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Stahlhelm
The Stahlhelm is a German helmet that was the primary helmet used by German armed forces from World War I to the Cold War. This iconic helmet had an excellent design that offered much protection for the user. Their were two distinct versions of the helmet; the M10 model, used during World War I, and the M32 model, used during World War II and onward. Along with Germany, both models were used by a number of different countries across the world. They were either supplied by Germany itself or were copied directly and manufactured for their own troops. History Before the creation of the helmet, German troops all wore kepis and service caps, being that way for German armed forces since the creation of the nation of Germany in 1860. All German soldiers wore kepis and service caps in their campaigns while fighting in war, especially when they were fighting in the Manchiurian War, the Crimean War and the Boxer Rebellion. Sometime after German victory in the Franco-German War, as well as building a colonial empire with territories in Africa and the Pacific, Germany began to believe that an upcoming war would occur between the great European powers would erupt as they competed with each other for new land and resources. Because of this, Germany began a series of military improvements for this upcoming war. One of these was designing a new helmet for their soldiers to replace the standard soft kepis. Eventually, the Stahlhelm design was created and introduced in 1910, with a skirt for neck protection and a prominent visor for protection from the sun. This helmet design went into mass production, distributing these to German troops. When World War I erupted, the Stahlhelm provided great protection from gunfire, and more importantly shrapnel, which was often more of the cause for head wounds than the former. M10 Model The M10 model was introduced to German troops in 1910, just as the country was preparing for the First World War. Seeing this, several countries ordered large numbers of Stahlhelms for use by their troops. Outside of Germany, the largest users of the M10 Stahlhelm during World War I were Japan and Turkey. Austria-Hungary also ordered a good amount of the helmets while also producing their own distinct Berndorfer helmet. When World War I broke out, Germany continued to supply their Turkish allies with the Stahlhelm, while Japan, who became Germany's enemy in the war, began their own production of the Stahlhelm after they already received their supply before the war. Irish troops wore the Stahlhelm as their standard helmet as well in their campaign against the British during the Great War. German forces wore the M10 Stahlhelm extensively in their campaigns in Western and Eastern Europe, as well as in Italy. The German also wore a good number of them in their campaigns in the Middle East and Central Africa. They also wore the helmet in their Asia-Pacific territories, though most troops stationed there still wore cloth hats. Turkish troops made extensive use of the helmet in their Middle Eastern and North African campaigns, with most Turkish soldiers wearing the helmet, while most Japanese soldiers wore the Stahlhelm in their campaigns in China, Korea and the Pacific. Users * Imperial Germany * Ottoman Turkey * Empire of Japan * Austria-Hungary * Mexico * Irish Republic * Greece * Afghanistan * Italy * Poland M32 Model After World War I had ended, Germany went through a very brief demilitarization period, and many of the M10 model Stahlhelms were discarded. However, when the Nazi regime took over power in Germany, an extreme re militarization process was put into place, with brand new reforms to greatly strengthen and improve German forces and equipment. One of these tests lead to an improved version of the Stahlhelm, leading to the M32 model, which kept the same design of the original but was smaller and lighter, and the size of the skirt and visor was reduced, though still prominent. Introduced in early 1932, this design immediately went into mass production, creating millions of these new helmets within a very short time and became the standard helmet of the German Wehrmacht forces. Like the M10 model, many other countries made use of the M32 model for their troops as well. Outside of Germany, the largest user of the M32 Stahlhelm in World War II was China, who ordered a very large number of the new Stahlhelms for use by their Chinese Nationalist troops, both German trained and Central Army divisions, as it became the primary helmet of the Chinese, almost becoming iconic for Chinese use as it was for the Germans. Once German-Chinese cooperation ceased shortly after the start of the China-Japan War, the Chinese continued their own mass production of the Stahlhelm for their use, while during World War II, Germany supplied Stahlhelms to troops of the Jingwei regime, a Japanese client state. Finland also received a large number of helmets for their use in their war against the Soviet Union, and most Finnish soldiers wore the helmet in their campaigns in Russia and China. The French Resistance also commonly used captured Stahlhelms as well. The Germans made extensive use of the helmet in their campaigns in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East and India. Most Germans wore these M32 helmets while fighting in these areas. Even organized German military resistance in areas captured by the Allies continued to mostly wear the Stahlhelm as they kept fighting, such as the German military resistance in the North African countries of Algeria, Libya and Tunisia that occurred after the North African campaign officially ended and went on until the end of World War II itself. The Chinese also made very extensive use of the helmet as well, with most Chinese soldiers wearing the helmet while fighting in their campaigns all over China and India. Users * Nazi Germany * Germany * Republic of China * Finland * Tunisia * Algeria * France * Bolivia * Chile * Palestine * Syria * Hungary * Italy * Liberia * Afghanistan Post War After the end of World War II, despite some questions of the helmet becoming obsolete, as well as connotations that surrounded it due to its use by Nazi forces, the M32 Stahlhelm continued to see much use, due to its good design and because its extensive use by Chinese and French resistance challenged the Nazi connotations. Like the American M1 helmet, the M32 Stahlhelm was widely used throughout the Cold War. In Germany, the Bundesgrenzschutz border guards and German police units still wore the Stahlhelm until the end of the Cold War, and were worn by the guards who engaged in the German border conflict in the late sixties against Soviet and East German troops. German soldiers of the Bundeswehr, formed shortly after the war, also used the Stahlhelm as their primary helmet until the 1970s, when they were replaced by the American M1 helmet, which were replaced by the German Gefechtshelm, which looked very similar to the Stahlhelm, shortly after the end of the Cold War. Chinese forces still greatly manufactured and used the M32 Stahlhelm well after World War II and into the Cold War. After the Nationalist government retreated from mainland China and held onto the islands of Taiwan and Hainan to form the Republic of China, the Chinese Nationalist Army continued using the M32 Stahlhelm as their primary helmet throughout the Cold War, with Taiwan still mass producing the helmet for their troops. Most Chinese Nationalist soldiers wore the Stahlhelm while fighting in the Taiwan War and the Sino-Indian War against Communist China. In the Communist Chinese People's Republic of China, Chinese police and home guard soldiers wore the M32 Stahlhelm, which were captured from Jingwei troops and from Nationalist soldiers during the Chinese Civil War. In the Middle East, Palestinian troops also greatly wore the Stahlhelm in their fight against Israel in the Palestine War. Afghan troops also wore the helmet as their primary helmet when fighting the Soviets throughout the Soviet-Afghan War, both during the conventional and guerrilla phases. Along with this, Liberian troops also adopted the Stahlhelm as their standard helmet throughout the Cold War, with Liberian troops using the helmet in their conflicts with South Afrika and Zimbabwe. In Star Fox universe Along with Cimil's Earth history, the Stahlhelm also exists as a helmet in the Star Fox universe (or at least, a helmet that is identical in appearance to the M32 Stahlhelm). In the Star Fox universe, the helmet originated from both of the planets, Krieg and Cerinia. The helmet was designed by two men, Ernst Kiefel, a Krieger, and Dimitri Chernev, a Cerinian, who is also a weapons designer who created the excellent Chernev 26 Assault Rifle. The helmet design was introduced to both Krieger and Cerinian forces, and the helmet went into mass production to be distributed to soldiers of both armies. The Kiefel-Chernev Stahlhelm immediately became the standard helmet of the Cerinian and Krieger armies as most soldiers of both armies wore it. Cerinian and Krieger soldiers wore the Stahlhelm in their colonial campaigns, such as in the fighting for Chinien, Hisiri and Corelis. Both sides wore the Stahlhelm when Cerinia and Krieg began fighting each other in a vicious war, and both armies continue to use the Stahlhelm to the current day in the Star Fox timeline. Trivia Category:Call of Duty Category:Battlefield Category:Medal of Honor Category:Halo Category:Star Fox